Qasr Al Hallabat

(Al Hallabat Castle)

The Qasr Al Hallabat site comprises a number of separate buildings including a palace (Qasr), a mosque, a huge reservoir, 8 cisterns dug into the western slope, an irregularly shaped agricultural enclosure with an elaborate system of sluices, and a cluster of poorly built houses which extend to the northwest of the reservoir.
 

Originally Roman in origin, the castle was rebuilt during the Umayyad period when it was elaborately decorated in mosaics, carved stucco, and fresco paintings, thus transforming the castle into a palatial residence.

There are about 150 inscriptions within the castle, mostly in Greek. The Umayyad rebuilding program was accompanied by a remarkable development of the site: the addition of an extra-mural mosque with its beautiful cusped arches; the agricultural enclosure with an elaborate irrigation system; and the bath complex of Hamman Assarah.